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This is a digital portfolio of Erin Vogel-Fox's work in journalism and the stories she produced during her time as a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Monthly Archives: November 2015

Local dive shop Phoenix Scuba offers certification classes for local divers but what’s truly drawing people into to the shop is its owner.

Kelly Fischer, 54, is both instructor and owner of Phoenix Scuba. Her nurturing and selfless approach to helping others has earned her a reputation as one of the top dive instructors in the valley. Her business has a five star rating on Yelp and a 4.8 star rating on Google Plus.

A Phoenician since 1968, Kelly Fischer said it was never her intention to become a dive instructor. She sufferers from claustrophobia and pushed herself to become comfortable underwater. She previously worked as a corporate credit analyst for American Express. Scuba was a passion of her husband, Steve. It wasn’t until she went on dive trip to Seal Island in California did she truly grow a passion for the sport.

In 2002, Kelly Fischer opened her first dive shop Paradise Scuba. Three years later, she and her husband decided to become instructors. It was in her training that she noticed only three of the 40 students in her class were women. She said it was in that moment she felt a responsibility to become a course director to encourage women to take leadership roles in the sport.

“It [Diving] takes some nurturing and just being there as a calming presence. Being a mom. I really think at the end of the day that’s it. I think as a woman, I bring something to the table that men don’t which is that nurturing quality,” Kelly Fischer said.

The Coyotes Curling Club in Tempe is redefining camaraderie by building a dynamic community both on and off the ice.

The club’s hard work and determination has led to a brand-new, sprawling, Olympic-caliber facility and a hundred new members.

The Coyotes Curling Club was founded in 2003 and is currently the only curling club in the state. When they started, they were located at the home of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team at the Ice Den in Scottsdale. The club had about 80 members. However, their time on the ice was limited to two hours a week. They needed more space to become competitive.

Twelve members decided to create a new facility and make the Coyotes Curling Club into a nonprofit organization. They wanted the club to be about its members and a place for the community to gather and share a love of the sport.

Darryl Horsman, 43, works in marketing for U-Haul and is spokesman for the club. He grew up curling with his parents in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. Horsman is also one of the 12 original co-founders of the Coyotes Curling Club. He said they all knew it would be hard work but a risk worth taking.

“We reached out to everyone we knew locally in the western U.S. and said ‘if this thing goes belly up’ we will all put in $1,000 and lick our wounds,” Horsman said.

Arizona home sales between June and September increased this year by 14 percent in comparison to last summer according to the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.

Single-family home sales increased this summer with 7,271 units sold. Last year, 6,129 homes were sold during the same June to September period. That’s an increase of 1,142 homes between the two years.

ARMLS compiles home sale statistics for the state of Arizona. However, the causes behind the increase in sales are not directly given. Real estate professionals point to a number of reasons for this boost.

Sharri Parkins, 53, a sales executive for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties, says home sellers don’t feel like the market is strong during the summer months, leading to a decrease in homes on the market.

“What is going on is that people will take their homes off the market right around May-June because they don’t feel that there’s buyers here. But the truth is that there are buyers here,” Parkins said.